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Putin asks Pakistan to end
cross-border terrorism

Vinay Shukla in Saint Petersburg

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday asked Pakistan to put an end to cross-border terrorism directed against India.

"If we think right, then the normalisation of the conflict situation lies in the terrorist plane...we must urge the leadership of Pakistan to put an end to the terrorist activities being carried out from its territory against India in Kashmir," Putin told a press conference.

Speaking after the conclusion of a one-day summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, he said India and Pakistan are themselves responsible for ending their stand-off and normalisation of their bilateral relations.

RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Russian president as urging the international community to make the Pakistani society "transparent, democratic, predictable and understandable."

Putin said that at their meeting in Almaty, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf signalled readiness to extradite non-Pakistani terrorists if they were apprehended on the Pakistani soil and their guilt was proved.

The Russian president expressed hope that this "goodwill signal would be heard."

Earlier, Putin and leaders of China and four Central Asian nations called on India and Pakistan to pursue efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation supports efforts by India and Pakistan to solve their differences by peaceful means as was stated when they met in Almaty," Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said winding up the summit.

He also hinted that the six Central Asian powers could even welcome India and Pakistan as new members of the group.

"The SCO is an open organisation, and it is ready to accept other states," he said.

Nazarbayev said the SCO could help to defuse tension in South Asia. "The SCO can be a way to solve military problems and that can be a model for countries in Asia."

PTI

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